chapter 1
The entire town warned people never to walk near Blackwood Farm after sunset.
They said strange lights appeared between the trees.
They said people heard voices calling their names.
Most laughed at the stories.
Emily never did.
The twenty-six-year-old kindergarten teacher had spent the last six months trying to forget the night her younger brother disappeared near those same woods.
No body.
No clues.
Only silence.
Every night she replayed that terrible evening in her mind, wondering if there had been something she had missed.
Then...
On a cold autumn night, everything changed.
Emily was sitting alone on her porch when she noticed a golden Labrador standing at the edge of her yard.
Its fur was muddy.
Its eyes were filled with urgency.
The dog didn't bark.
It simply stared at her...
Then slowly turned and walked toward the woods.
Emily frowned.
"Hey..."
The dog stopped.
Looked back.
As if it understood every word.
Then it walked farther into the darkness.
Something inside Emily whispered...
Follow him.
Against every instinct telling her to stay home, she grabbed a flashlight and stepped into the night.
The air grew colder with every step.
The trees blocked the moonlight.
Even the insects had stopped making noise.
Only the sound of her own heartbeat echoed in her ears.
The Labrador continued walking ahead, never too fast, never too slow, making sure she could keep up.
"Where are you taking me?" she whispered.
The dog didn't answer.
It only kept moving.
Suddenly...
It froze.
Emily nearly bumped into it.
Her flashlight illuminated an old chain-link gate covered in rust.
Behind it stood an abandoned farmhouse swallowed by fog.
She had never seen it before.
Then...
A figure slowly appeared behind the gate.
A tall person wearing a black hooded cloak.
Completely motionless.
Watching her.
Emily's breathing stopped.
The flashlight trembled in her hand.
The hooded stranger slowly raised one arm...
Not to attack.
Not to wave.
But to point...
Directly at the Labrador.
The dog began to whine.
Its tail dropped.
Then it looked back at Emily with terrified eyes—as if begging her not to trust what she was about to see.
And then...
The hooded figure spoke just five chilling words.
"Your brother has been waiting."
Emily felt the blood drain from her face.
Before she could ask another question, the lights from her flashlight suddenly died.
The farm disappeared into complete darkness.
A second later...
The hooded figure was gone.
Only the Labrador remained, staring toward the abandoned house.
Waiting.
May you like
As if this was only the beginning of a secret buried for years...
To Be Continued...
